If you’ve not yet scrubbed your mind completely clean of the image of Saturn as the maker of cheap, small, plastic-bodied cars, the Outlook crossover now arriving in dealerships should finish the job. The largest, most-expensive Saturn ever is based on a front-wheel-drive platform (with optional awd) and is the first of a family of GM products that will include the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and a Chevy to be named later.

While Enclave aims at the Acura MDX and Lexus RX range, Outlook’s target is somewhat more affordable with the likes of Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander in its sights. If our experience with an option-laden top-level XR edition is any indication, Saturn has overshot its mark. At a price some 15 percent lower, it matched up well against an MDX also in our fleet recently. This is good because the Honda Pilot is due to be replaced soon, and for once GM is leading rather than trailing its moving target.

Like its stablemates, Outlook is bigger—longer, wider and heavier—than the Japanese-brand competition. Stretched across an expansive 118.9-inch wheelbase, it boasts a wide 67.28-inch track for an SUV-like stance. It’s 200.7 inches long, about a foot longer than a Pilot, and a little more than 78 inches wide. The dimensions are put to good use with seating throughout for full-size adults: It accommodates either seven or eight (depending on the buyer’s choice of a standard 60/40-split center bench or the $495 option of captain’s chairs).

Saturn has the best access to the third row of any non-minivan in our experience, thanks to a fold-and-slide arrangement on the second row that really opens up the path to the spacious back row and incorporates memory that readily returns the second-row seat to its original position. It’s manually operated (the same for either second-row seating option), with large, easily found levers and mechanisms that move with little effort. The one downside may be the obvious, minivan-like slides on the floor in front of the second row that detract from the otherwise luxurious look of the cabin.

Not only is it easy to get into, we’d gladly ride in that third row all day—if we wanted to watch a DVD on the optional entertainment system, the third row might be our first choice. Little wonder that GM is having second thoughts about its plan to derive a minivan from this platform—sliding doors would not improve access to the third row by much, unless you made the minivan bigger still.

At just less than 5000 pounds in awd form, Outlook may be as big as most families want or can afford to run in a world of uncertain gas prices. Propulsion comes from the same 3.6-liter variable-valve timing V6 that serves in the Aura sedan, coupled to the six-speed automatic. It serves up 270 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque in the $27,990 base XE model. Opt for the $30,290 XR and you get 275 hp and 251 lb-ft, thanks to a dual exhaust (awd models cost $2,000 more). Instead of the Aura’s manual-shift arrangement with lever or paddles, Outlook has a simple button on the side of the console-mounted shift-lever knob that you can thumb to select shifts up or down—it works well for this application, in which the driver is likely to seek such control to adjust for terrain and load conditions rather than sporting intent.

Speaking of driving—the Outlook is impressive on the road. We took it on a cross-state, 300-mile round trip from Pontiac to Grand Rapids, Michigan, which it easily handled on far less than a single 22-gallon tank of gas. We found a comfortable, exceptionally quiet ride from the all-independent suspension, more than adequate performance and decent handling for such a large vehicle.

It was easier to park and maneuver than most SUVs, even the midsize variety that don’t have the Outlook’s cargo capacity (there’s nearly 20 cubic feet behind the third row; you get 116.9 cubic feet with both rows of seats folded flat—and yes, you can slide a four-foot wide sheet of wood in there). In use, you keep turning up thoughtful little touches, like the way the dead pedal on the floor is raised so a woman’s heel can fit underneath, or the easy-to-use interface with the navigation screen, which doesn’t bug you with a legalistic warning every time you access it. Fit-and-finish on the Outlook was to a high standard, though the example provided for our test was not yet to final specifications—program vehicle line executive Anna Kretz was still sweating some pretty small details, pointing out minor flaws that our critical eyes had missed.

Our one real concern was with the software programming on the six-speed automatic (maybe it wasn’t wise to share the vehicle’s name with a notoriously glitchy Microsoft product?). The car was too eager to shift up into high gear and too reluctant to shift out of it for our tastes—an effort to maximize fuel economy. The system is adaptive and responded better to an aggressive approach than to a gentle one. Engineers were still chasing the calibration in late October, but were confident they’d have it sorted out by the time cars are delivered.

ABS on the four-wheel discs, traction control and stability control are standard, as is the full array of airbags (including really huge side-curtain airbags that cover the second and third rows). The optional full-time awd system splits torque 60 percent to the front and 40 percent to the rear on dry pavement and adjusts when it detects slipping.

Saturn expects its average transaction price to be $32,000 to $33,000, though the example provided for our test drive was loaded out to $43,809. The most expensive options were the navigation system ($2,145); DVD entertainment ($1,295); premium leather trim with heated seats ($1,275); the XR convenience package with rear parking assist, power liftgate, remote starter and heated windshield washer fluid ($1,045); and the touring package with 19-inch chrome wheels and touring tires ($895). Other options including the trailer-towing package (4500-pound capacity) and premium paint pushed the price up but, as mentioned, made it a good match for an MDX that stickered out $5,000 higher.

The Acura would give you another 25 hp in a 300-pound lighter crossover and Honda’s “super-handling” all-wheel-drive technology, but less interior and cargo space, the same towing capacity and no better fuel economy. The XR AWD is EPA-rated at 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway, the Acura at 17/22. In mixed use we saw 20.7 mpg in the Outlook and 19.74 in the MDX. The fwd Outlook is rated at 18/26, the best EPA rating for any eight-seat vehicle.

Most Outlooks won’t be as heavily equipped as our XR example; the point is that the car is aimed at Pilot but can be appointed more luxuriously, which speaks well to the prospects for the Buick version. The average transaction price that Saturn cites also measures up favorably against the new Ford Edge, a lighter, strict five-seater that’s more nimble on the road but didn’t return any better fuel economy in a recent drive.

Given that Saturn has never had a large SUV or large crossover before, every one it sells should help continue the record it has set this year with market-share gains in every quarter. Sky, Aura and the Vue Green Line prompted that performance. Now Outlook joins the mix, there’s a new Vue on the horizon, and all that really remains is to replace the Ion with an Opel to complete Saturn’s transformation.
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